The Obsidian Residence

Developers rarely release a full plate at this height; when they do, it is usually broken into four. This one was bought unbuilt, in shell, by a client who instructed Vincent Aubert to plan it as a house rather than an apartment — and then sold before taking occupation.

The result is a two-level residence with a genuine circulation logic. Reception, dining, and the cantilevered pool occupy the upper level and run the full 360 degrees. Bedrooms are below, arranged along the eastern glazing to take the Gulf sunrise, with the western half given over to a gallery corridor that Aubert lit for artwork rather than for architecture.

The pool is the detail everyone photographs — twenty-one metres, cantilevered clear of the structure at three hundred and twelve metres. It is also, quietly, the most heavily engineered element in the building.